My 2020 So Far

Four days late, but I would like to write something to welcome this new month of May by looking back at the first parts of this crazy year. It's been a different past couple of months for all of us around the world with so many restrictions, but I have to say, looking through a lens of positivity that there are some good things that came with staying at home. Aside from the fact that we get to spend more time with our family members than the times when we are all busy with work, we get to learn more things to do, more time to accomplish other things we always wanted to but never had the time too, and even learn more things about ourselves.

"Barred" view from the back of our Terrace

One can hear a lot of complaints in social media about how bored they are, well I can't blame them and it can get really boring. But if, instead of whining every single day, they start looking for a hobby or keep themselves occupied through having their hands on something. Alright, I know it can be really hard for some people but even reading books can be pretty productive and at the same time entertaining.

Now, let me look back and share you some things that I can coin as accomplishments from the very first day of this year and the four months that came after that. My friends, may I present you:

Steve's "Accomplishment Report" for the first 4 months of 2020

• Spent New Year's Day in Paris (Last day of my three weeks in Europe) and flew back home the next day.

• Edited and Published a few VLOG episodes on my YouTube Channel
• Prepared my own lunches for work every single day 'bento' style.
  
• Re-Designed this blog's theme and template and added a Destination's Tab.
• Repainted my bedroom wall and added new frames to complete the 22 countries I have visited.
  
• Been a part of my younger brother cousin's wedding last January 25th. (Can you find me?)
  
Photo Credits to CamZar Photography
• Re-opened Cavite Daily Photo and posted daily since the lockdown.
• Prayed the Rosary every day since the lockdown which helps and calms me.
• Treated my baby cousin's to a long waited Ramen Night
  
• Coping up and continuously battling my anxiety (with big help from ALL OF YOU my blog friends)
• Fixed My Garden and found a new hobby and place to find peace and relax.
• Work with Scraps and add DIY fixtures to my Garden.
  
  Linking Jesh's ALL SEASONS - SPRING BLOOMS linky
  
  
• Finish my third Semester of Graduate School in University of the Philippines.

Also, my friend The Padre from his blog What Else is Possible (visit his blog for a big doze of positive energy all the way from Colorado) shared a list of Goals on his last post which inspired me to write one of my own for this coming month. Besides, this will be the last Month of my 20's because I'm stepping up to the 30's platform this coming June (exactly 30 days from now). Let me also share some accomplishments in this past 4 months.

Goals for May

1. Spend afternoons in the Garden instead of the hot bedroom
2. Continue repotting more 'pups' into their own planters
3. Present my dashboard at work to North America managers
4. Finish reading "Empress Dowager Ci Xi"
5. Start reading and finish "History of Thailand"
6. Look for old photographs
7. Post on all Thursdays of the month for Timeless Thursdays
8. Daily Rosary
9. 9-Day Novena to Our Lady of Fatima
10. Host weekly video conferences for my High School friends and another for my College friends
11. Read more about the plants I have in my garden and how to take care of them
12. Think of more ideas for photography even inside our house
13. Fix refunds or rebooking my tickets for my cancelled Myanmar trip
14. Spend more time of meditations and grateful thoughts per day
15. Try my best to spread more positive vibes to my blogging friends through my posts

Never Stop Getting Busy

Steve

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This post is part of Our World Tuesday. Click on the photo and be taken to beautiful views around the world!

Flowers at 124

White Phalaenopsis (Phalaenopsis blume)

Since I had a lot of fun taking photos with my old Nikon D3100, last night I thought why not take shots of every flower that we have in our gardens here at home? These plants are being taken cared of Yeya. Yeya is our house person and she has been with us now for 32 years, she even took care of my starting when I was born until now. 

This lockdown, I am very grateful for the plants that she took care of and the flowers that it blooms to make us happy and hopeful. Here are the flowers I took photos of this 10 in the morning on our gardens, these are all at our house.

(Top) - Welcome Plant / Zanzibar Gem (Zamioculcas)

(Middle) - Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)

(Bottom) - Fuschia Bonggavilla (Bougainvillea)

(Right) - Rosas de alas Diyes (Portulaca grandiflora)

(Top Left) - Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)

(Top Right) - White Bonggavilla (Bougainvillea)

(Bottom Right) - Black Mustard Seed - (Brassica junsea)

(Bottom Left) - Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)

(Top Left) - Rosas de alas Diyes (Portulaca grandiflora)

(Bottom Left) - Yellow Bell (Allamanda cathartica)

(Right) - Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)

Wherever you are, no matter how big or small your space may be, there will always be room to grow a pot or a plot of plants. Make sure you have at least or two that blooms with beautiful flowers for it gives so much joy to a lonely heart. Just as they say, no matter where we may be, make sure you "bloom where you are planted"

Never Stop Blooming!

Stevenson

Pocket Gardening

Since the lockdown a month ago, I got so bored and has a conversation with my cousin Caren via messenger and we both thought about gardening. I have been helping Yeya on her vegetable garden on our rooftop while Caren has started her own pocket garden of succulents. She wanted more info on planting Peppers and I also wanted some ideas on how I can start my own collection of pocket garden plants.

So after our chat, I went to our garden and saw an old Dish Garden pot that I used from decades ago and decided to start from there. There are also a lot of untended but thriving cactus plants on our terrace garden which I thought would be a great start through re-potting.

The one on the left photo was my first dish garden that I worked on two weeks ago. That big chunk of cacti head has roots on it already and I just re-potted it here also the tall 'snowman' looking cactus at the back. But all the other small heads on the left part of the dish are made from cuttings and honestly, I don't know if they are alive.

You can see on the above photo, on the left part are four little pots of different types of cacti and succulent plants. They were given to me earlier by a good family friend Ate Lanie. Thank you very much Ate Lanie, you made me so happy and encouraged to continue with my Pocket Gardening.

I have re-poted the topmost and the leftmost plants and they are made up of many small plants on a cluster and using my old mugs, I placed them all one by one. But the larger aloe looking plants (please help me name these plants) have been placed on a new dish garden on the photo before this one above.

Here are some shots of my humble but growing Pocket Garden! I am blessed to have people like Ate Lanie who are very supportive of my new found hobby during these times which I will continue on as long as these babies live. I'll do my best for them of course!

Aside from seeing these beautiful plants grow, it also makes me happy to give these old and unused mugs that we have here at home a new life! Since I can't drill holes at the bottom, I line up a third of the mugs' interior with pebbles of different sizes from an old aquarium.

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HELP! Can you please help me by naming these species of cacti and succulent that I have? It will be very much appreciated!

Keep on Growing!

Stevenson

Reviving my Bromeliads

It's been a couple of years when I asked my cousin Judy to take me to Silang to buy some plants for a mini garden project. Well for those who know me, I have a lot of hobbies which I tend to juggle each time, but guilty as I am, my interest levels fall out whenever I think of new hobbies. A good thing though is that it may take time but I always get my interest back with each of them, and of it is gardening.

My Bromeliad plants

I don't have a green thumb but I love plants and flowers! So I asked my brother Erson, who is a great plant grower (he loves plants and plants love him too) for advise on which plants I should take care with minimal supervision and thus he suggested Bromeliads. These kind of plants will just grow and grow and make new pups, even out of neglect. But of course I will not neglect them on purpose but due to my busy schedules at work, I tend to do so.

My bromeliads rehabilitated from neglect

But now as I try to look for things to do on my free times, I realise they are just upstairs on the rooftop and waiting for some caring so last week I decided to repot some of them and earlier, I repotted more and now they look alive again (though some had a little munching from our dogs).

I have a few variety, well three to be exact as of now. I don't really know what kind or name these variety this have but here they are. If you guys know their names, kindly help me by posting on the comments section, it will be much appreciated.

Beautifully colored leaves and spiky ends

This one is truly what's left of it's kind. Hope it grows stronger

I have read that this one is called the blushing variety.

I am excited that there is just another hobby I can revive, and plants to love and take good care of. Wish me luck that this will be a serious hobby this time for I have always wanted to beautify and rehabilitate our old rooftop with beautiful mini gardens on all its corners.